Will the Last Candidate Left Turn Out the Lights?
That drip, drip, drip you hear is the ink sliding off the printed ballots for the Chestnut Hill Community Association board of directors election, the culmination of which comes at the $30 a head dinner and annual meeting (meeting is free, food extra) on April 22.
What started out with the promise of a spirited campaign (even as last year's disgrace to democracy fades into memory) now has the potential to lack sufficient candidates to fill all the open seats. At the close of the March 20 deadline for a spot on the ballot, we understand there were 27 candidates. Yesterday, April 7, there were 22 people running. Today, there are 21. Two candidates left to work with the new association, Chestnut Hill Neighbors United. One left due to family considerations. Can't say about the other missing hopefuls. Today's former wannabe, a source told us, left because demands on his schedule precluded his being able to fulfill the obligations of the office. Guess he hasn't been paying attention to how things operate.
Don't even try to spin this trend - and the dearth of community involvement in the election - as a tacit endorsement of the CHCA status quo. The economy isn't the only thing that's fallen off a cliff. Trust went right along with it. You [the current CHCA management] pushed it over the edge.
Labels: CHCA Board, Chestnut Hill
posted by Anonymous at 4/08/2009 06:40:00 PM
10 Comments:
Who exactly is the "you" in "You helped push it over the edge"? The existing CHCA? The dropout candidates?
The CHCA and its executive committee.
Anonymous? Please go see your doctor for a brain transplant.
Jeremiade, I'm just a middle-class renter who moved to Chestnut Hill six months ago, trying to figure out exactly what is going on. How dare I ask for clarification? I guess I should just keep my mouth shut and not get involved.
Anonymous. Since the answer to your question was contained in the writing you questioned, I believe you are an idiot. You should keep your mouth shut, Joe.
Yes, Jeremiade...because it was added *after* I asked my question. The original post did not contain the phrase in brackets. Also, my name is Claire, not Joe. I came to learn more about all this drama with the Local and thought I'd ask a simple question - in the original post, I wasn't sure whether "you" was a dig at the CHCA, the dropout candidates, or, really, at some silent but powerful majority in the neighborhood who allow all these shenanigans to go on. For God's sake, asking the question doesn't mean I support the CHCA board! I'm not an insider and probably never will be, but there's no need to call me an idiot.
Welcome to Chestnut Hill, Claire! As someone who's lived here a long time and doesn't identify with any of the warped factions that exist here, my first advice to you is this: Do yourself a favor and stay anonymous. People who love this community and want to help it quickly discover that there's no way to do it without getting pilloried by one side or another. So give up before you start and do what I do: read all the silliness that the factions write on this blog as well as in the Local, and shake your head at their self-absorbed, self-destructive, over-educated and over-privileged behavior, BUT NEVER GET INVOLVED IN THE NAIVE NOTION THAT YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I'm someone who tried and learned this lesson the hard way, so trust me on this. You're better off volunteering at a local animal shelter or seniors' center or something.
Ah, Claire. You're not wrong. The editing should have had a cross-out and update.
But you are right to question. Unlike "Sane and happy," I believe that people acting make a difference. And these critics are far from the self-absorbed or the over-educated. It is important to remember the ones who attack the Local, the blog and critics of the CHCA do so because there are severe problems with all these entities. When we hear "forget the past. Move forward," we are being told that mismanagement, slipshod business practices and the misuse of funds are not our business. "Sane" would have us all pretend that it is in good form to hide the mistakes and go about our business with blinders on.
Pilloried? Hardly. Although I have been called "trailer trash" and accused of shouting obscenities on G'town Ave (never happened. mistaken identity), I still find that it's important to work for change. Never make a difference? Then why would Petee, Sane and other assorted characters urge us to be complacent, to not get involved, to let things stand as they are?
Their greatest fears are being uncovered as abettors to and supporters of the people who have been so inept in their running the CHCA as a "community service."
Anonymous Claire: I apologize for calling you an idiot. I really was referring to Joe but that's no excuse and I apologize to him too. I hope you don't take the advice offered by "Sane and happy" to stay uninvolved. I can not explain why he/she may not have made a difference and the amount of work required of diligent board members is daunting. Unfortunately many want the power but have no intenttion of doing the hard work. The executive committee is a small group of board members who have volunteered to do even more work by listening to issues and framing them in advance for the full board at monthly meetings. They are not allowed to make decisions. The board must do that. When the CHCA is allowed to function as its bylaws requires it works much better than when a small group tries to set their own agenda without open discussion of the matter in print in the Local. The recent actions by a few board members can only harm Chestnut Hill and the Local. The writing you asked about was trying to point out that those actions may be at the heart of a growing community detachment from the CHCA. I also think Dr. Pizzano's efforts to begin a new organization confirms it.
Thank you for the welcome, and the explanations - it helps! I'm looking forward to seeing what Chestnut Hill Neighbors United will do...and hopefully getting involved as that goes forward.
- Claire
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